“Poland and Lithuania have a common understanding of geopolitical threats; they condemn Russia’s war in Ukraine and are taking great efforts to strengthen their countries’ energy independence. Today, bilateral cooperation is more important than ever for the region’s energy security,” said the Minister of Energy. According to Minister Kreivys, energy resources should be neither a weapon nor a tool for blackmail in international relations.
“We commend Lithuania’s decision to stop importing gas from Russia, and are phasing it out as well, along with Russian coal and oil. In this dynamic situation, long-term and sustainable ways of cooperating using the infrastructure of both countries are important,” said the Polish Minister of Climate and Environment.
During the meeting, Vice-Minister of Energy Inga Žilienė presented the activities of the Klaipėda liquefied natural gas (LNG) terminal, as well as its gasification capacities and plans for the coming years.
During the meeting, possible regional solutions were discussed to ensure the supply of natural gas using the available infrastructure – the Klaipėda LNG terminal and the Gas Interconnection Poland-Lithuania (GIPL), which will start operating this May.
Poland is one of Lithuania’s most important strategic energy partners. Some bilateral cooperation projects have already been successfully implemented, including LitPol Link, the Lithuania-Poland power interconnection that has been in operation since 2015 and was enhanced in 2021, and on which, in preparation for synchronisation of the Baltic electricity networks with the continental European network in 2025, an emergency support test was performed in December 2021, during which part of the Lithuanian power system worked synchronously with the Polish system – as well as the synchronous grid of Continental Europe – for the first time ever. Construction of the GIPL was completed in Lithuania in late 2021, and as of 1 May 2022, gas market participants will be able to start using the gas pipeline interconnection and commercial gas flows between Lithuania and Poland will begin.
